💥 Attack

Russia deployed fiber-optic controlled FPV drones, dubbed 'Vandal Prince of Novgorod', that attacked Ukrainian BTR-4 reconnaissance vehicles near the village of Giri during Ukraine's advance into Kursk Oblast.

August 12, 2024 Giri, Kursk Oblast

Verified Independently confirmed by 4 sources

Kyiv Post Ukrinform Kyiv Independent UNIAN

Multiple high-reliability sources confirm the core facts of this event.

Entities

Vandal Prince of Novgorod (weapon_system) BTR-4 (weapon_system) Ushkuynik Scientific and Production Center (organization) GMLRS (weapon_system) Seim River (location) Glushkovo (location) Ukrainian forces (military_unit) GMLRS rockets (weapon_system) Armed Forces of Ukraine (organization) Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee (organization) Ukrainian Armed Forces (military_unit) Russian armed forces (organization) Russian Ministry of Defense (organization) Federal Security Service (FSB) (organization) Russia (organization) Kursk region (location) Vladimir Putin (person) Alexei Dyumin (person) Oleksandr Syrskyi (person) Kursk Oblast (location) Russian reinforcement convoys (military_unit) Russian Ka-52M attack helicopter (weapon_system) Russian military column (military_unit) 2S19 Msta-S howitzer (weapon_system) Krivitskie Budy (location) Federal Security Service (organization) Alexander Dyumin (person) Ukraine (organization) Ukraine's Armed Forces (organization) Alexei Smirnov (person) Alexey Smirnov (person) Russian Federation (organization) 225th Separate Assault Battalion (military_unit) Russian air defense forces (organization) Institute for the Study of War (organization) Volodymyr Zelenskyy (person)

Source Reports

What each source reports. "Source tone" reflects the language used by the outlet — it is not an independent verification.

Kyiv Post → Source tone: uncertain

Videos posted on social media purported to show attacks on Ukrainian BTR-4 reconnaissance vehicles near the village of Giri using fiber-optic controlled FPV drones.

Ukrinform → Source tone: certain

The Defence Forces were conducting an offensive operation in the Kursk region.

Kyiv Independent → Source tone: likely

The Kursk power plant is located nearly 80 kilometers from the Kursk Oblast border town of Sudzha, which was captured by Ukrainian forces this week during Kyiv's ongoing incursion into Kursk Oblast.

UNIAN → Source tone: certain

As soon as the new troops stepped on the road, strikes began - many wounded. One soldier had both legs and arms broken, shrapnel in his chest.

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Extraction metadata

Extracted: 2026-02-18T21:09:31.718Z

Source story: 38831